The reign of Dmitry Donskoy is considered the most miserable and sad era in the history of the Russian people. Frequent ruin and devastation of land, internal strife, but most importantly, the Battle of Kulikovo took place - terrifying and difficult confrontation with the Mongol-Tatar yoke.
How it all began?
In the hot summer of 1380, the Prince of Donskoy received the news that the Tatar ruler Mamai and all his Golden Horde were going to Russia. Mamai wanted to completely destroy the Russian princes and put his governors in their place. Therefore, the khan also hired Basurman, Alans, and Circassian detachments and entered into an alliance with Prince Jagiello, who also did not like Moscow.
Dmitry Donskoy immediately began to gather an army to give the enemy a worthy rebuff. While one army was traveling and the other was gathering, khan's ambassadors arrived in Moscow. They began to demand the same tribute and humility, which were under the khan of Uzbekistan. The boyars, princes and clergy gathered advice and decided that it was better to make concessions to Mamaia than to shed blood. The ambassadors received rich gifts and went to the khan with a proposal for a truce, but it seems that this was a bad idea, as military preparations continued.
The messenger, Zakhary Tyutchev, who was sent with the khan's ambassadors with a proposal for peace, returned with bad news: Mamai is going to Moscow. Not only Prince Jagiello joined his army, but also Oleg Ryazansky. The three armies agreed to meet on September 1 on the banks of the Oka River - this was the first gathering place before the Battle of Kulikovo.
At the general council, it was decided that it was necessary to meet the Mamai army and to prevent the Khan’s army from joining the troops of Jagaila and Oleg. To all the governors who had not yet arrived in Moscow, Prince Dmitry sent messengers with a message to go to Kolomna, the gathering place of all the militias. Reconnaissance detachments were outfitted, which had advanced before the main army in order to obtain a language - a captive, who could tell about the true intentions of the khan.
Scouts reported the following: Mamai in alliance with the Prince of Lithuania and Ryazan, he will really wait for Jagaila’s troops on the Oka, but also Mamai will wait for autumn, when they will collect all the crops from the fields in Russia. The Khan sent his assuli an order; he does not care about arable land and bread, because they will come to Russian bread.
Blessing
On August 15, 1380, Dmitry Donskoy arrived in Trinity to take a blessing from Hegumen Sergius. He told him that he should honor the khan with gifts and humility. Since Dmitry had already done this, the abbot informed that in this case Mamaia would expect “destruction and desolation”, and the prince would be “help, mercy and glory”.
A little later, the prince noticed two monks who stood out against the general background - Peresvet and Iaken. Before getting into the monastery they were talked about as heroes. Therefore, Dmitry asked Sergius that the heroes go to the site of the Battle of Kulikovo as part of his army. On this, the prince advanced to the appointed meeting place of his troops.
Impassable formation
Previously, Russian princes often fought with the Tatars and always won. They cheerfully and noisily went to the steppes and competed with each other, who was the first to break the enemy. But those days are long gone. The people, taught by bitter experience and who had restrained under the yoke of a heavy yoke, now obediently followed their leader, who thoughtfully and cautiously prepared a battle plan.
To avoid crowding, the military army split up and headed to Kolomna with three different roads. A long convoy stretched behind the army, the soldiers piled on the carts the heaviest parts of their armor. Princes and boyars had special wagons with numerous servants. Prince Donskoy also took on a campaign Russian merchants who knew Crimean cities, southern roads and border villages well.
On August 24, the army that advanced from Moscow had already reached Kolomna. Here allies were already waiting for him, ready to go to the place of the Battle of Kulikovo. The next day, the prince conducted a general review of the troops and divided it into four regiments. It was at this moment that Dmitry Donskoy realized that Prince Oleg Ryazansky had really betrayed him, although until recently he had maintained friendly relations with Donskoy. It was probably this fact that caused Dmitry to change his plans at the last moment: not to cross the Oka River near Kolomna, but to dodge a little to the West, bypassing Ryazan lands and thereby giving the opportunity to catch up with the main army of the troops that had not yet arrived.
Only the prince of Moscow and the boyars and princes subject to him took part in the military campaign; not one of the major princes visited the common meeting place before the Battle of Kulikovo.
Mamai wanted to break the growing power of Russia and strengthen its dependence on the Horde. Khan managed to gather an army of 150 thousand people. At that time it was a lot. The Russian army was inferior in the number of soldiers. According to the chronicles, Prince Donskoy managed to collect about 70 thousand soldiers. Although there is evidence that the number of his troops exceeded 100 thousand. The Russian army did not want to defend themselves on the Oka River, but to move towards the enemy, up the Don.
On September 8, the Russian regiments were already at the site of the Battle of Kulikovo. They crossed to the right bank of the Don and settled on the Kulikovo field. The army was thus: in front of the advance regiment, followed by the Great. The flanks occupied the regiments of the Right and Left hands, followed by the equestrian reserve. Behind the left flank in the forest there was an ambush regiment.
The place where the Battle of Kulikovo was, was unprofitable for the retreat of the Russian troops - in their rear was a river and deep ravines. Having crossed the river, the Russian troops showed determination to defend their freedom and land to a victorious end. The formation that the troops occupied greatly complicated the bypass maneuvers of the Mongol-Tatar mounted troops. The Khan’s army was deployed, it did not have reserves, the horse army was at the forefront, followed by the infantry.
Meeting place and omens
Although the Russian troops prevented the enemy from going further, their position was extremely disadvantageous: they seemed to have driven themselves into a vice. What was the reason for choosing the battle site of the Kulikovo battle?
The princes argued for a long time about where to give battle: some said that it was necessary to cross to the other side, others did not want to leave behind the Lithuanian troops and Prince Ryazantsev with the squad. Those who wanted to cross the river argued as follows: to stay means a place for cowardice to date, and if you cross, then morale will increase. Knowing that there is nowhere to retreat, the soldiers will fight to the last. Prince Dmitry was given many examples of the fact that his predecessors crossed the rivers and successfully defeated enemies. Dmitry Donskoy was determined, he said that he did not come here to look at the achievements of his predecessors, but to liberate the Russian land. And he has only two ways: either to die, or to win. So, he sent his troops through the Don to the battlefield of the Battle of Kulikovo. Everything happened very quickly, because the messengers reported that Mamai already knew about the Russian troops and was in a hurry to the Don.
By night, Russian troops managed to bypass the river and camped near the Nepryadva River - a tributary of the Don near the site of the Battle of Kulikovo. Beyond the coastal hills lay a ten-verst field, which was called Kulikov. In the middle of this field the Smolka River flowed, behind it there was already a horde of Mamaia, which did not manage to prevent the Russian crossing.
The choice of the place of the Battle of Kulikovo was not only moral, but also military and tactical. If the soldiers remained on the left bank, then they could only defend themselves. Having crossed and destroying bridges behind them, they had to go on the offensive. In addition, a water barrier protected the Russian army from a possible strike from the rear.
Legends say that on that night a large number of wolves howled at Kulikovo Field, eagles screamed and croaked crows, as if they felt that there would be a large number of corpses on the ground soon.
Donskoy’s troops included the irrepressible prince Dmitry Bobrok; he was known as a skilled man in military craft and a medicine man, who could predict the future according to various signs. On the night before the battle, they left for the future battlefield of the Kulikovo battle in the field and listened. Bobrock told Prince Donskoy that his army would win, but at too much cost.
The battle of the Russian regiments
On the morning of September 8, the Don tributary near the site of the Battle of Kulikovo was supposed to be lit up by the dawn, but instead the world was swallowed by a thick fog that prevented the regiments from moving. Only around 9 a.m. the haze began to dissipate. The Russian army began to take up combat positions: on the right side of the army there were ravines and thickets of the Nizhny Dubok River, which flowed into Nepryadva, on the left there were steep Smolka Rivers. We can say that the place of the Battle of Kulikovo is the confluence of rivers that flow into the Don.
The infantry was on the front line, an ambush cavalry regiment covered the carts and places of crossing over the Don - the only way to retreat. This regiment could at any time help the fighting soldiers, but its main goal was to protect the crossings.
Prince Donskoy threw off his gold armor and put on a simple black cloak. He joined the guard regiment, as he wanted to be the first to enter the battle with the enemy. The soldiers and other princes tried to dissuade him from this extravagant idea, but Dmitry was adamant: "Victory or death, I will be with you, brethren, to the end."
Kulikovo field, eleven o’clock in the morning - this is the time and place of the Battle of Kulikovo. The Tatar army has already advanced to the middle of the Kulikov field. Two formidable forces were coming at each other, but suddenly they stopped at some distance from each other. One warrior, similar in body structure to Goliath, separated from the Tatars. In those days, every battle had to start with martial arts. This Tatar Goliath was called Chelubey. From the Russian side came Peresvet, who expressed a desire to fight the enemy.
Start of battle
The duel ended quickly: the opponents hit each other with such force that they fell to the ground dead. This marked the beginning of the battle.
Tatar mounted troops shot down guard regiments, defeated the frontier outpost, and for three hours tried to break through the center and smash the right wing of the Russian army.
September 8, 1380 is the date of the Battle of Kulikovo, the battlefield of the same name field surrounded by rivers. After the first attack of the Tatars, Russian troops suffered significant losses, even Prince Donskoy was injured, who sported an ordinary soldier in the armor. Only when Mamai began to squeeze Russian regiments, a private reserve was put into operation. But even in this situation, the enemy managed to break through the left flank of the Russian legion and go to the rear of the main forces.
At the same time, Beaver's ambush regiment strikes at enemy troops. The sudden and swift attack of this small army changed the course of the battle in favor of the Russian army. The ranks of the Tatar troops were broken, and the soldiers fled. Russian troops managed to advance at a khan rate of 50 kilometers. The pursuers ruthlessly destroyed the remnants of Mamaia’s troops. Both sides suffered huge losses, about 200 thousand people were killed.
Fatal miscalculation
If the place of the Battle of Kulikovo had been found, in our time, military commanders unanimously declared that there was too little room for maneuver. Historical records indicate that the Tatar army was numerically superior to the Russian, but they could not realize the combat potential because of the inability to turn around on horses. The center of the field had only 5 kilometers along the front. Tatar troops were not divided into separate units. Obviously, Mamai wanted to attack “head on” and with one blow break the resistance of the Russian troops.
That is precisely why defeat awaited him. Carrying out a frontal attack at the confluence of rivers, the Tatars, by definition, could not win the Battle of Kulikovo, since they could not get around or cover the battle formation of the Russian army. Simply put, the strategic initiative here was for the Russian command.
Separately, I want to note how the commanders fought. Momai watched the battle from Red Hill, where his headquarters was located. In turn, Prince Dmitry Donskoy dressed in simple military equipment and stood in the front ranks of his army, fighting along with his subjects.
When Prince Donskoy saw that the Guard Regiment was defeated in an unequal battle with the enemy, he returned for the main forces and brought them into battle. At noon, the main forces of the Russian army went to the Tatars to meet.
Bloody battle
The Regiment of the Right Hand was located in the ravines and copses of the Nizhny Dubok River, the Regiment of the Left Hand settled in the highlands of the Smolka River. The place of the Kulikovo battle did not allow the Tatar mounted army to bypass the Russian flanks, this forced them to hit the center.
In the Russian army, the right flank turned out to be the most stable, which was lucky to repel all the attacks of the enemy. But in the center of the army, where the main military events took place, three hours later, the Tatar troops began to gain the upper hand. Russian troops suffered heavy losses, especially on foot troops. Only thanks to the Vladimir and Suzdal regiments the position of the Russian army was restored, and the breakthrough of the enemy was prevented.
The left flank was also in critical condition. Under the pressure of the Tatars, the regiment of the Left hand was forced to withdraw to the Nepryadva River. The Tatars stepped up the offensive attack, they had the opportunity to cover the left flank of the Big Regiment, which they took advantage of. Only thanks to the reserve regiment could the threat be eliminated. If the Russian troops had failed, the soldiers would have been threatened with imminent death - there were no ways back to a safe retreat. Hiding in ravines, forests and shovels on the banks of the Don, near the site of the Battle of Kulikovo, Russian troops could put themselves in danger, because the Tatars did not cost anything to chop down the entire army that had fallen from its place.
While the battles were on the right and left fronts, Prince Bobrock, together with his army, was waiting for his finest hour in Green Oakwood. Despite the fact that the enemy forces were superior, Bobrok was in no hurry with the help, moreover, a strong wind was blowing in his face. Only at three o'clock in the afternoon, when the wind died down, the governor gave the order to engage in battle. An ambush regiment appeared suddenly from the rear and brought down its forces on the main Tatars, which meanwhile enthusiastically pursued the remains of the left flank.
By that time, the Golden Horde were heavily worn out, and Mamaia had no backup reinforcements left. Therefore, the sudden and rapid attack of the Ambush Regiment determined the course of the battle, plus the Ambush Regiment was supported by other soldiers of the Russian army. So to speak, all who could still stand on their feet went on a new offensive.
Tatar troops were driven into the Nepryadva River, many of them drowned, and those who survived began to randomly retreat to Red Hill. Seeing all this, Khan Mamai did not wait for the complete and final defeat of his army, so shamefully fled the battlefield with a small squad. The remnants of the Tatar army moved south. The Russians pursued them to the Beautiful Sword River, only those who had spare horses were saved, but in general the entire Tatar garrison was defeated, and the camp with many carts, horses, camels and other utensils went to the winners.
Hearing that Mamaia’s army was defeated, the Lithuanians, who were 40 kilometers from the Kulikovo field, began to retreat as quickly as if the Russian troops were chasing them. Oleg Ryazansky, when he heard that the Russians would go back to Moscow, fled to Lithuania.
Losses
After the opponents were no longer pursued, Prince Dmitry Donskoy ordered to count all the soldiers who survived. Chroniclers wrote that after the battle, the Russian army counted 40 thousand soldiers. Presumably 20-30 thousand people were lost. For more than a week, the Russians buried their comrades, only after a worthy burial the army went on a return trip.
The convoy of Russian rati increased due to the wagons captured from the Tatars with clothes, weapons and other good. A large number of seriously wounded soldiers were brought to their homeland. Passing the Ryazan lands, the prince forbade the soldiers to rob and offend their inhabitants. On September 21, the army of Prince Donskoy was in Kolomna, and on September 28, the winners were solemnly met in Moscow. It was for the victory over the Tatars that Prince Dmitry received the nickname "Donskoy".
The messengers long ago informed the inhabitants of Moscow of the victory at the Kulikovo field, and the people began to rejoice. The prince was joyfully greeted by subjects and ordinary people. He paid to the wretched and poor, paid special attention to the widows and orphans who remained after the killed soldiers. He did not forget to thank Hegumen Sergius, who blessed him in battle.
The victory on the Kulikovo field is difficult to overestimate. The success of the Russian army destroyed the assumption that the Golden Horde was invincible. The victory over the Tatars increased the number of supporters of the unification process. All Russian princes and lands expressed their willingness to fight the Tatars. Oleg Ryazansky admitted his mistakes and insisted that all his relations with Lithuania or the Golden Horde should be controlled by Prince Donskoy.
However, the victory was short-lived. Soon, instead of the Mamaia Horde, a new state was created with Genghisides Tokhtamysh. After it proclaimed its supremacy in the Golden Horde, the Russian princes recognized its power. It seemed that the date and place of the Battle of Kulikovo no longer mattered. After the sudden attack of Tokhtamysh on Moscow in 1382, even the Prince of Moscow was forced to submit to the Tatar Khan.
After the Battle of Kulikovo, the Russian people hoped that the Horde was defeated and the yoke of the Tatar was forever discarded. But this dream still had a very long and thorny path.
Today we tend to underestimate the importance of the exploits of Dmitry Donskoy. Looking with our eyes on the map of Russia, the place of the Battle of Kulikovo, we can’t even imagine what efforts it took 600 years to gather and lead so many people, rally them, come up with a strategy and win.
Conclusions of foreign scientists
Foreign researchers praised the Battle of Kulikovo as an unsuccessful attempt to liberate Russia from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Russian researchers say that the time of Prince Donskoy’s reign became a turning point in the history of Russia: after winning the Battle of Kulikovo he managed to unite the Northeastern Lands, Moscow was finally recognized as the center of government, and after the Battle of Kulikovo the yoke was inexorably weakening. But there is another opinion, which says that the times of Dmitry Donskoy’s rule were difficult, and the attempt to throw off the Mongol-Tatar yoke only aggravated the situation.
Be that as it may, the Battle of Kulikovo played a role in the history of Russia. After it, Moscow began to fear, because of which there were sudden and brutal raids on Russian lands. Only heroes need time, and then they will surely win. True, sometimes this time is required too much.